Last week at Wesley College Senior Whadjuk Noongar Elders Dr Richard Walley OAM and Alton Walley delivered an inspiring Welcome to Country and traditional Smoking Ceremony at the site of The Centenary Building Project. The ceremony marks a special milestone as we embark on the College’s most daring campus development.
The special event was held to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional custodians of the land – the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation.
Dr Richard Walley OAM and Alton Walley were joined by members of the Wesley community including Head of College, Mr Ross Barron, representatives from the College Council, the Endowment Fund, students from the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools, Parents’ & Friends Association, Old Wesley Collegians’ Association, donors, staff, project architects and project managers.
Dr Walley began with a Welcome to Country, where he explained the history and significance of the area as an ancient place of gathering and learning.
The Welcome to Country was followed by a traditional Smoking Ceremony. Smoking Ceremonies are an ancient cleansing ritual that involve burning native plants and are used to ward off bad spirits and to signify new beginnings.
Following the ceremony, the audience were treated to an inspiring performance by the Moorditj Mob, accompanied by Year 12 students Benjamin and Jacob Narkle on the didgeridoo.
At the event, Head of College Ross Barron said, ‘Today is very exciting for all of us. It has been five years of work, that has culminated into turn dirt in the next month or so. When this project is finished it will be like no other precinct in this State. It will be a generational game changer for the whole College.’
Acknowledgement and celebration of Aboriginal culture and heritage will form an important part The Centenary Building Project.
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